rkwebster

How sad, not a word about Jonnie Flynn, another summer league has come and gone and he is still trying to hook up with a team. Unfortunately, he falls into the same category as Donte Greene. They took the money (who could blame them) but never elevated their game to stay competitive in the NBA. The days of guarantee contracts for Jonnie and Donte are over and playing in the D league is their next stop. They are now playing with the hope of signing on with a NBA team as injuries occur during a season. Very sad and I hope they planned and invested all of that early money wisely?

Blame those stubborn BE presidents and ADs of those BB schools for the demise of John Marinatto. They buried their heads in the sand and refused to recognize the magnitude of FB. I feel bad for Marinatto, as he is the scapegoat for a conference that lacked vision and was still living in the past. Face it when a team like Georgetown can not sell out the Verizon center for BB games where is this BE league going?

A Spring football game is nothing more than an opportunity for the fans to come out and get excited about the upcoming football season. Positions going into August have already been decided before yesterday's Spring game. The final competition for positions will be decided in early August. Obviously, the spring game was not about the fans since only 3,000 at most showed up. Geez, you get a better crowd for a good rivalry high school football game. Oh, by the way, Ohio State had 82,000 at their spring game and they are ineligible for post season play. Get excited SU fans there will be a good chance the Dome will be rocking with at least 5,000 fans when they do battle with Stony Brook this fall.

Last night not having Fab was critical. SU needed his physical presence on the floor to match up with OSU big bodies. Shame on Fab for not being there. As I watched the post news conference and seeing Scoop and KJo go through such an emotional setting, I will take 100 Scoops and KJos over the likes of a Fab and some of those other knuckleheads that have come and gone. Scoop and KJo bleed orange and yes they may not get you that so called title but they are winners. They have done it right and SU should be so proud of young men like these two seniors.

Why would this not surprise anyone? Of course during a time when reporters are looking for every bit of dirt on a program, certain individuals who may have an axe to grind with Syracuse are given a perfect window to unload their hidden secrets about the BB program. Before everyone is ready to cast this huge cloud over the program let's make sure we find out who these individuals are? Let's not forget the number of kids that have come and gone over the last ten years in the BB program good and bad. I am sure there are young men out there that given the opportunity will be quick to bad mouth the program.

It seems when the dirt about Bernie Fine came to the surface other dirt was going to appear as well. Now the Yahoo article with four unnamed sources pointing fingers at the BB program. The number of knuckleheads that have come and gone through the BB program over the last ten years, there may be some truth to the article. The question that will need to be answered. Did the coaching staff turn a blind eye and did not follow through on proper discipline to these so called violators?

Everyone knew going into the Louisville game with it being that third game of a five day swing and with GU and Conn being emotional wins. This was not going to be easy and it is was not. Last night was not pretty but the team hung tough played hard and came away with a win. Mentally it is a huge win for them and hopefully it will continue to make them better.

Axe,
I realize this is your dark side column but it was one of your best post this season. You covered it all and still gave credit to Joseph for carrying the team. I believe this rebounding issue stems from the so many easy teams SU plays in the beginning of the season where rebounding is not the issue. The steals, turnovers and fast break points outshine the rebounding woes. What we are seeing now are much better teams that do not give up those easy points, run excellent half court offensive sets which makes rebounding the basketball so critical. I am not sure Cuse can turn their rebounding woes around completely. As a team they can definitely make a better commitment of having all five players rebounding on the defensive end. If this does not happen, expect some losses over the next few weeks, followed by an early exit from the Big East Tourney and a disappointing run into the NCAA tournament.

This so called rivalry has lost its intensity over the last few years especially in the DC area. I have attended the GU/Cuse games in the DC over the three to four years. During that time I have witnessed the following at the Verizon Center. The arena not being filled to capacity and more SU fans than Hoya fans. Last year Georgetown purposely held back tickets from the Cuse fans so they could try to entice enough Hoya fans to attend so the Cuse fans would not out number the Hoya fans for a second straight year. The people in DC consider playing Duke a bigger and more attractive game than Syracuse. Yes, to many of us that have lived through all of these Georgetown games, it has been fun but I do not expect it to last once Cuse moves to the ACC. Remember at one time, the big rivalry for Cuse was St. Bonaventure in the 70s'. Once Cuse moved to the Big East who today remembers St. Bonaventure?

Great to have Melo back but let's face it. The next four games will give us a great indicator on how good this Cuse team really is, with home games vs. Georgetown and Connecticut, and then away at Louisville and Rutgers. Each team will bring huge challenges to Cuse on both ends of the court. This is the time in the schedule where the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders. Go Cuse!!!!

Great to read about someone who just worked his butt off, made changes as the landscape of football and players evolved. Coach Coughlin may have changed to understand his players better but he never changed his beliefs in hard work, being committed, following rules as being part of team and loyalty. His players have come to respect him for his honesty. Upstate NY produced a real winner, go coach and go gmen.

Got to give credit to Huggins and West Virginia they came in to Dome with the possible Big East player of the year and Cuse had no one that could match up with him. WV took the air out of the ball, pounded the glass and kept it close. I just can not understand why Cuse especially late in the game does not have all five players squeezing down into the lane for rebounding? Then again when you watch the SU players especially the guards they are all flat footed when the ball is coming off the rim or starting to run down court in transition. Rebounding has always been a problem and that can be attributed to the zone they play. Players play a spot and not a man so they never block out. Got to get better.

Agree orangedan everyone had a wild side to them growing up but the Broyld kid actions was beyond just a small hiccup. It was disgraceful and yes he could not get out of high school (why he was in prep school) and now he is enrolled at SU. A real quality kid with a big upside. I thought SU was a strong academic school or is this a sign on how poor the recruiting process has been under Marrone. One of Coach Mac's goals with recruiting was that quality kid in his backyard needed to attend SU and he was quite successful in achieving that goal. Coach Marrone can not get the quality kids to turn their heads to SU. His recruiting lists are filled with JCC tranfers and less than stellar kids, not a great way to build your program.

Let's face it Jonny Flynn's strongest asset was his quickness. Once he suffered what I believe was a hip injury at the start of his second year with the Timberwolves , he lost his ability to compete at a high level in the NBA. I can not help to believe that the amount of minutes he logged at SU and the strain and physical adjustment of the NBA have caught up with him? A third year at SU would not have made him a better passer or getting teammates more involved. He was the show and that was not going to change. The NBA was going to force him into those roles. I would say his NBA career from here on will be nothing more than playing a journeymen role bouncing from one team to another for the next couple of years if he is lucky.

Can not wait to see those TV commercials talking about the student athlete and the wholesome of Collegiate sports. I guess Nike has a piece of that action as well. It is all about big business and making the buck. I thought for sure Fab Melo would have been the person used by Nike to highlight the new jersey. Since he can not stay academically in school, it would have made sense for him to move on to another profession.

Some of the above posts have their points about the offense but let us not forget, what makes this year's team different from past teams is they play consistent defense. They play hard on the defensive end and for the most part they all rebound. They are not afraid to distribute the ball when they get out and run the floor after a steal or strong defensive rebound. Let's not get too critical...

I have always been impressed with Jay Wright, He is a person that personifies what is right in college BB. So when he speaks about the Cuse in such a way, you have to take notice. Keep it going Cuse, makes for a good time in upstate NY.